On Dec. 7, U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Pepe (E.D. Mich.) signed a criminal complaint that charging Isador Hampton and Willie Lyons, ex-president and financial secretary, respectively, of United Auto Workers Local 835 in Warren, Mich., with embezzling union funds.
According to an affidavit in support of probable cause from Dep’t of Labor investigator Anthony Fritz, Hampton received approximately $10,389 in union funds between Mar. and Sept. 2000 as compensation to which he was not entitled. Allegedly, Hampton knowingly received and cashed for his own use, nine checks drawn on Local 835’s account as payment for unauthorized compensation and expenses as follows :$1,099 for unauthorized salary, $1,300 for duplicate salary, $1,040 for duplicate vacation pay, $400 for advance salary, $750 for undocumented expenses, $3,200 for unknown expenses, and $2,600 unexplained. Similarly, Lyons allegedly obtained $500 in unauthorized expenses via four checks. In DOL interview, Lyons admitted that he was not entitled to the $500 and offered to make full restitution.
Hamption was president from 1989 to 2000, and Lyons was financial secretary from March to June 2000. Local 835 ceased to exist in June 2000 when it merged into UAW Local 771 of Detroit by order of the international UAW. [USAO E.D. Mich. 12/18/01; DOL 12/7/01]
Southeast Regional Bosses Accused of Falsifying Records
On Nov. 29, in U.S. Dist. Court for the N. Dist. of Ala., Roy Summerlin and Thomas Hall, ex- treasurer and vice-president, respectively, of the independent Guards union’s Tenth Reg’l Council, were charged in 2 separate informations with making false entries in required union records. The council is headquartered in Nashville. [DOL 11/29/01]